Academic Advising

The Office of Student Services in the College of Science and Technology guides students from New Student Orientation through graduation to assist them in ensuring that they complete all degree requirements and work to their fullest potential. Faculty advisors in each major use their field experience and knowledge of departmental curriculum to help students choose courses consistent with their specific career objectives.

Specialized Services

· New Student Orientation—Group advising and registration appointments for all newly-admitted first-semester freshmen and transfer students.

· Advising and Registration Services—Students may want to meet with professional advisors at different times during their academic career to discuss their academic progress, develop educational and career goals, discover academic success strategies and check on their remaining graduation requirements. The express advising and advising-by-appointment schedule is available at www.temple.edu/cst/advising/officehours.html. Registration with an advisor is required for students with a cumulative, last semester attended or major/track GPA below 2.0 and for any students registering for more than 17 credits. Newly-admitted or readmitted students are also required to meet with an advisor for registration.

· Petitions for Exception to Policy—Petitions are reviewed on a rolling basis by the Director and Assistant Director of Student Services. Typical petition requests include those for overload approval, for attending another institution for a semester or summer session, and for curriculum exceptions.

· Progress Report—At 60 credits, students may schedule a progress report with their academic advisor to lay out a semester plan for taking the remaining requirements before graduation.

· Graduation Review—At 90 credits, students are required to schedule an official graduation review with their academic advisor. The advisor will explain the remaining course and credit requirements needed to graduate. Students are expected to be active participants in the review and have equal responsibility for assuring the accuracy and completeness of the review.

Departmental Advising

After their New Student Orientation advising and registration session, students' major departments will have access to their academic credentials for subsequent advising by faculty advisors. Faculty advising is very important in developing ties between a student's academic program and his or her professional goals. Faculty advisors may assist students in finding research opportunities and professional internships and will help students choose courses that will best prepare them for their field of interest within a particular discipline.

Academic Advising and Student Responsibility

All academic advisors are trained to read and evaluate information carefully to give students the best possible advice. However, primary responsibility for curriculum completion rests with the student. Every student must be aware of the requirements of his or her degree and should collaborate with an advisor regularly to ensure timely completion of his or her program.

Student Advisors/Ombudspersons

Each department in the College of Science and Technology has a Student Advisor/Ombudsperson (SA/O) who is a qualified undergraduate student in that department. The SA/O is thoroughly familiar with requirements and curricula of the department and can competently advise fellow students on the courses and faculty members of the department. He or she also has information about career options for the department's graduates. The SA/O also coordinates the student grievance procedure.

Student Grievance Procedure

The SA/O is familiar with the College of Science and Technology Grievance Procedure and is the first person to consult in case of an academic grievance. The SA/O will serve as a student-faculty liaison and attempt to resolve the grievance through mediation. A student must initiate this first stage of the academic grievance procedure no later than thirty days after the beginning of the fall or spring semester immediately following the completion of the course in which the grievance occurred. A copy of the College of Science and Technology grievance procedure can be obtained from the SA/O. Each SA/O has an office in his or her department, and the SA/O program coordinator is located in the Office of Student Services. A list of current SA/Os is available here.

Continuing Student Registration

Continuing student registration is the period during the fall and spring semesters when currently-enrolled students should register. Degree Audit Reports (DARS) provide a compact summary of a student's progress toward a degree, including a list of requirements yet to be completed. Eligible students obtain their DARS documents via TUportal.

Prior to processing their registrations, freshmen are strongly recommended to meet with advisors to review their DARS documents and discuss course selections for the upcoming semester. New transfer students and continuing students in good academic standing are encouraged to meet with their departmental advisors before processing their schedules via TUportal. Students ineligible to use Self-Service Banner are required to meet with an advisor.

Pre-Professional Advising

Knowledge gained in the College of Science and Technology curricula provides the foundation needed in preparing for Professional Health School entrance exams. Many of the courses required by professional programs such as dentistry, medicine, pharmacy, and veterinary medicine are incorporated into College of Science and Technology curricula. This approach allows our students to fulfill degree requirements, while at the same time meeting admissions criteria for professional and graduate programs.

CST offers three ways in which students can pursue health professional programs.

Students may complete a bachelor's degree and apply to the health professional program.

Students may apply to the 3+4 and 3+3 accelerated programs linked to particular Temple health professional programs by which they may complete both their bachelor and professional degree.

Students may apply to the 2+4 pre-pharmacy program by which students would only complete a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD).

Students interested in professional health programs should contact the Office of Pre-Professional Health Studies for detailed advising. The office is located in 1810 Liacouras Walk, Suite 100 and further information can be found at www.temple.edu/healthadvising. Applicants to professional health programs who are either pursing a degree+professional program or the 3+professional program must complete a "Letter of Intent" with the Office of Pre-Professional Health Advising, preferably during their first semester but no later than the spring of their freshman year. Applicants to a Pharmacy program on a 2+4 track apply directly to the Pharmacy program. The curriculum and advising of these students is specifically tailored to fulfill the prerequisites set forth by the Temple University School of Pharmacy. Pre-pharmacy students must declare a major upon completion of 30 credits. All students should identify a "parallel" program of study in addition to indicating their intent to pursue a professional health program.